New Lexus LC launched in South Africa – Pricing and specifications

Lexus has officially relaunched the LC in South Africa – with one major difference.

The updated coupe is now exclusively offered in the form of the 500h hybrid, meaning that the 5.0-litre V8 LC 500 is no longer available in local dealerships.

The Lexus LC 500h has a South African starting price of R2,542,800, which includes a 7-year/105,000km warranty and maintenance plan, with a separate 8-year/195,000km hybrid battery warranty.

Specifications

The LC’s electrified powertrain consists of a 3.5-litre, V6 petrol engine that receives assistance from a small electric motor powered by a lithium-ion battery pack with 84 cells that produces 310.8 volts.

This gives the car a power cap of 264kW, while the torque figure for the petrol engine is listed at “350Nm+e” as Toyota and its subsidiaries do not provide combined torque figures for its hybrids.

The hybrid system, combined with a CVT transmission and rear-wheel-drive architecture, is able to return a fuel consumption figure of 6.7l/100km.

Performance-wise, the Lexus sprints from 0-100km/h in 5.0 seconds before maxing out at an electronically-limited top speed of 250km/h.

It has five driving modes for Comfort, Eco, Normal, Sport, and Sport S+, too, as well as a limited-slip differential and adaptive variable suspension.

Regarding the LC’s physical attributes, the long-wheelbase coupe retains the brand’s signature spindle grille, which is accentuated by a pair of automatic bi-LED headlights and daytime running lights.

It also gets a carbon-fibre roof, aluminium and carbon-fibre door inserts, silver door handles, a retractable rear wing, and 21-inch forged alloy rims.

Included in the Lexus’ equipment list is a heated multifunction textured leather steering wheel with magnesium alloy paddle shifters, ambient cabin lighting, a 12.3-inch infotainment screen, a digital instrument cluster with a heads-up display, a 13-speaker Mark Levinson Reference Audio sound system, Alcantara seats, a synthetic leather dashboard, keyless entry and start, rain-sensing wipers, dual-zone climate control, electronically-adjustable ventilated front seats with a memory function and two-way lumbar support, and onboard navigation.

Safety and assistance items comprise blind-spot monitors, hill-start assist, tyre-pressure monitoring, front and rear park-distance control, lane-keep assist, active cornering assist, adaptive cruise control, and a panoramic camera system.

The company’s configurator also lists 10 different exterior colour options, namely White Nova, Sonic Titanium, Solar Storm Red, Posiedon Blue, Graphite Black, Naples Yellow, Terrane Khaki, Sonic Copper, Sonic Iridium, and Sonic Chrome.